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Dana Rongione 15/05/2026 Dana Rongione 15/05/2026

Are You Killing Yourself Trying To Be Perfect?

I used to be the world's most dedicated perfectionist. I'm talking full-blown, no-holds-barred, sweat-through-your-shirt perfectionism. And I had Bible verses to back it up … or so I thought.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." — Colossians 3:23

I latched onto that word heartily and ran with it. Right off a cliff. In my mind, "heartily" meant perfectly. It meant excellence at every turn, spotless execution, and absolutely zero margin for error. Good enough? Not good enough. Better than good? Still not good enough. I was the woman who proofread her grocery list. Twice.

I toiled. I panicked. I cried. I expected the same impossible standard from everyone around me, too, and trust me, they were not fans of that. I was building my whole life around a perfectionism that I had somehow convinced myself was holiness.

Dana Rongione 04/05/2026 Dana Rongione 04/05/2026

Resisting the Dark Side

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a bit of a Star Wars nerd.

Not a full costume at the midnight premiere level, but enough to know that today, May the 4th, the galaxy far, far away shows up in every social media feed, coffee shop chalkboard, and text message chain on the planet. "May the fourth be with you." Ha, ha! It gets me every time!

But behind all the puns, the Yoda memes, and the lightsaber sound effects, there's a concept in Star Wars that ought to make every Christian sit up a little straighter in their seat. In George Lucas's world, the greatest danger a Jedi faces isn't the enemy in front of him. It's the Dark Side within him. And the gateway to that darkness? Anger. Fear. Aggression.

Hmm. That sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it?

Because if I flip over to my Bible, specifically to Galatians 5, I find a list that reads a lot like a Dark Side recruitment brochure:

Dana Rongione 01/05/2026 Dana Rongione 01/05/2026

Hanging On By a Thread?

There's a particular kind of tired that has absolutely nothing to do with sleep.

I know it well. It's the kind that sets in when you've been fighting the same battle for so long you've forgotten what it felt like not to be fighting it. Maybe it's a health issue that just won't cooperate. Maybe it's a relationship that's draining every last drop of your energy. Maybe it's a financial situation, a ministry that feels like it's going nowhere, or just the relentless, grinding weight of everyday life when your body hurts, your heart is heavy, and the ceiling seems to be the only thing your prayers are reaching.

Been there? Yeah. Me too.

And on those days, the last thing I want is someone breezing in with a bright smile, chirping, "Just keep trusting Jesus!" as if that's something I hadn't thought of.

Dana Rongione 24/04/2026 Dana Rongione 24/04/2026

God Uses Shabby Rabbits and Mute Swans

This morning, my mind wandered, which honestly isn't unusual. But this time, it wandered somewhere worth following.

I was thinking about three stories I've loved since childhood: The Ugly Duckling, The Velveteen Rabbit, and The Trumpet of the Swan. Here are three characters who had absolutely no business being the hero of anyone's story, or so the world around them thought. A gangly gray bird that didn't look like anyone else. A scruffy stuffed rabbit who was losing his button eyes and had the stuffing loved right out of him. A trumpeter swan named Louis, who couldn't make a sound and was silent in a world that communicated entirely through song.

It didn't take long to notice the thread running through all three stories. Each one of these characters was, by all outward appearances, broken. Unfit. The square peg in the round hole.

Dana Rongione 22/04/2026 Dana Rongione 22/04/2026

Choosing Stillness Over Fight or Flight

I thought I knew my Bible birds: sparrows, eagles, ravens, and even the poor rooster that unwittingly took part in Peter's darkest hour. But recently, I met a new feathered friend, and I can't believe I've been overlooking it all these years. Allow me to introduce the bittern.

I know, it sounds more like a stomach issue than a bird. But this "crazy" bird has completely captured my imagination. The bittern appears in several places in Scripture, tucked away in verses about ruined cities becoming lonely, marshy places: "I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water..." (Isaiah 14:23). It's a secretive marsh bird that blends so well with the reeds that you can stare right at it and never see it.

Here's the part that really struck me. When danger approaches, the bittern doesn't flap around, screech, or take off in a panic.